geographical name
islands in the Atlantic SE of Florida; an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations since 1973 capital Nassau area 4404 square miles (11,450 square kilometers), population 268,000 — see Turks and Caicos
• Bahamianadjective or noun

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Bahamas — [bə hä′məz, bəhā′məz] country on a group of islands (Bahama Islands) in the West Indies, southeast of Fla. & north of Cuba: formerly a British possession, it became independent (1973) & a member of the Commonwealth: 5,353 sq mi (13,864 sq km);… … English World dictionary

Bahamas — islands discovered by Columbus in 1492, settled by English in 1648, long after the native population had been wiped out by disease or carried off into slavery; the name is said to be from Sp. baja mar low sea, in reference to the shallow water… … Etymology dictionary

Bahamas — Spain first discovered the Bahamas, a set of islands more than 500 miles southeast of Miami, but they were first settled by the British, who brought the Church of England with them. Methodists arrived in 1786, loyalists from the losing side of … Encyclopedia of Protestantism